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ObjectiveTo estimate the annual incidence rate of SLE in the USA.MethodsA meta-analysis used sex/race/ethnicity-specific data spanning 2002–2009 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention network of four population-based state registries to estimate the incidence rates. SLE was defined as fulfilling the 1997 revised American College of Rheumatology classification criteria. Given heterogeneity across sites, a random effects model was employed. Applying sex/race/ethnicity-stratified rates, including data from the Indian Health Service registry, to the 2018 US Census population generated estimates of newly diagnosed SLE cases.ResultsThe pooled incidence rate per 100 000 person-years was 5.1 (95% CI 4.6 to 5.6), higher in females than in males (8.7 vs 1.2), and highest among black females (15.9), followed by Asian/Pacific Islander (7.6), Hispanic (6.8) and white (5.7) females. Male incidence was highest in black males (2.4), followed by Hispanic (0.9), white (0.8) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4) males. The American Indian/Alaska Native population had the second highest race-specific SLE estimates for females (10.4 per 100 000) and highest for males (3.8 per 100 000). In 2018, an estimated 14 263 persons (95% CI 11 563 to 17 735) were newly diagnosed with SLE in the USA.ConclusionsA network of population-based SLE registries provided estimates of SLE incidence rates and numbers diagnosed in the USA.

Pregnant sheep used in perinatel research were the source of a large outbreak of Q fever in 1980 among the faculty and staff of a medical school. Complement-fixation tests with phase II Coxiella burnetii antigen were positive in 81 persons, of whom 58 (71.6%) had Q fever during the first eight months of 1980. Microagglutination and/or indirect immunofluorescence tests of 485 sera were positive in an additional 56 persons. Only 41 of the 137 seropositive persons were involved in caring for or working with sheep; the remaining 96(70.1%) persons were located along the routes followed by sheep carts or had been exposed to sheep in other ways. Early in the outbreak few patients sought medical help. Later, most patients reported promptly and responded favorably to therapy with tetracycline. Sheep were removed from the campus in July 1980; cases ceased one month later. Other medical centers engaged in research with pregnant sheep should be alert to the risk of Q fever.